The Writer's Guild of America has put out their list of nominees for the 2007 Videogame Writing Award. They had announced their plans to do the awards back in October, leaving it open to any game done between December 1, 2006 and November 30, 2007. After that, those who wish to submit to the awards will have to join the WGA, stating:

For this first year, work that was not produced under WGA jurisdiction may have been submitted, but must contain separate writing credit(s). Writers of source material were not eligible for awards consideration. At the time scripts were submitted, the credited game writer(s) must have been or applied to become members of the WGA's New Media Caucus.

So, who got nominated?

• -Crash of the Titans from Sierra Entertainment, written by Christopher Mitchell
• -Dead Head Fred from D3 Publisher, written by Dave Ellis and Adam Cogan
• The Simpsons Game from EA, with Matt Selman as the lead writer, and Tim Long and Matt Warburon as other writers. Dialogue by Jeff Poliquin
• -The Witcher from Atari, written by Sande Chen and Anne Toole, also mentioning lead story designer Artur Ganszyniec, dialogue by Sebastian Stepien, and additional dialogue by Marcin Blacha 
• -World in Conflict from Sierra Entertainment, with story design by Christofer Emgard, and Larry Bond as a story consultant, while having Ed Zuckerman as a script consultant

I'm about as surprised as the rest of you. Where is BioShock? In the comments of the first post, you readers also called for Sam and Max and Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions to get nominated. I can't judge, seeing as I haven't sat down and played through all these games, but there were a lot of titles that I would've expected to see on this list that didn't make it.

Before we go ahead and jump down the throats of the WGA, though, remember that these scripts had to be submitted. So, it's entirely possible that no one at 2K Games decided to submit BioShock, nor someone from Square-Enix decided to submit FFT. Of course, the Writer's Guild can't give any comment as to who submitted to the award.

Since the WGA strike is still going on, it's pretty much guaranteed that the winner will be announced via press release, since no awards ceremony will be held.

[Via Variety]

LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK -- The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have announced nominations for the Guilds' inaugural Videogame Writing Award, honoring outstanding achievement in videogame writing during 2007.

VIDEOGAME WRITING

CRASH OF THE TITANS, Written by Christopher Mitchell, Sierra Entertainment
 
DEAD HEAD FRED, Written by Dave Ellis and Adam Cogan, D3 Publisher
 
THE SIMPSONS GAME, Lead Writer Matt Selman, Written by Tim Long and Matt Warburton, Dialogue by Jeff Poliquin, Electronic Arts
 
THE WITCHER, Lead Story Designer Artur Ganszyniec, Dialogue Sebastian Stepien, Additional Dialogue Marcin Blacha, Writers Sande Chen and Anne Toole, Atari
 
WORLD IN CONFLICT, Story Design Christofer Emgard, Story Consultant Larry Bond, Script Consultant Ed Zuckerman, Sierra Entertainment

Developed by the WGA and spearheaded by the Guild's New Media Caucus to encourage storytelling excellence in videogames, improve the status of writers, and foster uniform standards within the gaming industry, the WGA's inaugural Videogame Writing Award spotlights quality work by videogame writers, raising their profiles, and validating their contributions to this rapidly maturing medium.

The WGA Videogame Writing Award honors the best qualifying script from a videogame published in the previous year. To be eligible for entry, games must have been released between Dec. 1, 2006 and Nov. 30, 2007. For this first year, work that was not produced under WGA jurisdiction may have been submitted, but must contain separate writing credit(s). Writers of source material were not eligible for awards consideration. At the time scripts were submitted, the credited game writer(s) must have been or applied to become members of the WGA's New Media Caucus.

2008 Writers Guild Awards winners in all categories will be announced on Saturday, February 9.

For further information about the 2008 Writers Guild Awards, please visit www.wga.org or www.wgaeast.org.

Further inquiries about the WGA Videogame Writing Award may be directed to Melissa Gage in the WGAW Awards Department at (323) 782-4571; email: Melissa Gage, or to Marsha Manns in the WGAE Awards Department at 212-767-7805, email: Marsha Manns.

For press inquiries about the 2008 Writers Guild Awards, please contact Gregg Mitchell in the WGAW Communications Department at: (323) 782-4574, e-mail: Gregg Mitchell  or Sherry Goldman in the WGAE Public Relations Department at (718) 224-4133 or e-mail: Sherry Goldman.

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) represent writers in the motion picture, broadcast, cable, and new media industries in both entertainment and news.